A law taking effect Wednesday bans broker fees for most residential renters in New York City, the nation’s largest rental market. Here’s how renting will — and won’t — change.

The law, the Fairness in Apartment Rental Expenses Act or "FARE Act," which was passed last year by the City Council with a veto-proof majority, eliminates the status quo in which most apartments can be rented only if the renter pays a fee — typically equal to one month’s rent or more — just to see the unit, get the application processed and sign the lease.

No, but whoever hires the broker must pay the fee, and most brokers are hired by the landlord, not the renter. Broker fees are still allowed in other circumstances, such as for real estate purchases and sales.

The legislation’s lead sponsor, Councilman Chi Ossé (D-Brooklyn), said last year upon its passage: "Tenants are done paying fees to brokers they never wanted nor hired for apartments they found themselves" via web listings.

Residential broker fees can pose an enormous and sometimes insurmountable burden to someone seeking a home, particularly when combined with requirements for up-front payments of the first and last month’s rent and a security deposit. Broker fees, the council found, exist almost nowhere else and have a harmful effect on housing mobility.

Arielle Savoy, of Baldwin, was not a fan last year when she told Newsday that she and her would-be roommate had 15 minutes to check out a two-bedroom, one-bathroom walk-up in Manhattan’s East Village. That’s when the broker, who worked for the landlord, rushed them out so others could go on a tour. Savoy and her roommate ultimately took the place and had to pay the broker $2,100, plus $2,100 for a security deposit and the monthly rent of $4,200.

Opponents predict that landlords will hike rents to market-rate tenants in order to offset the new costs of having to hire someone to show apartments to prospective tenants, process applications and handle the lease. And brokers are worried they’ll lose their jobs.

Yes. On Tuesday, Judge Ronnie Abrams of U.S. District Court of the Southern District of New York rejected a motion by the real estate industry for a preliminary injunction blocking the law. Abrams wrote that the "remedy is through the political process, not in court."

Yes. On the Island, residential rental broker fees are typically between a month’s rent and 15% of the annual rent, and are common for existing developments but less so for new developments, according to agent Wendy Sanders of Douglas Elliman in Roslyn. In 2020, New York State tried to impose a statewide ban, but the rule was blocked by a judge following a real estate lawsuit.